The three levels of an audit
ASHRAE defines three levels of energy audit. Each one digs deeper.
- Level I — a walk-through. Identifies obvious low-hanging fruit and gives a rough savings estimate.
- Level II — a detailed survey, with utility analysis and ROI calculations on each measure.
- Level III — a full investment-grade audit, with measured data and detailed simulation. Used for capital decisions.
Federal projects typically need Level II at minimum. We routinely run Level III on VA campuses where the savings justify the deeper work.
Where the savings actually come from
If you ask an owner where they expect audit savings, the answer is almost always equipment. The actual ranking, in our experience:
1. Setpoint and sequence optimization
Boilers running too hot, pumps short-cycling, economizer sequences fighting reheat. Pure operations work, no capital expense. This is where 30–50% of identified savings live.
2. Re-balancing
HVAC and water flows drift over time. Buildings change occupancy. Air balance reports get older every year. A re-balance is cheap and recovers performance the original commissioning paid for.
3. Submetering hotspots
You can't manage what you can't see. Submetering by zone or system reveals waste you'd never spot from the utility bill alone.
4. Equipment upgrades
Yes, eventually. But equipment is usually the most expensive way to capture savings, and it's often the last lever, not the first.
Real numbers
On one recent multi-site VA audit, we identified over $2 million in annual savings across the portfolio — and roughly two-thirds of that was operational, not capital. Payback on the audit fee itself was under three months.
Bottom line
Audits aren't a procurement formality. They're an inventory of money you're already spending and don't have to. The first dollar saved is almost always operational, and it's almost always the cheapest dollar to recover.